Meaning and Nature of

UNIT 1 MEANING AND NATURE OF Religion

RELIGION

Contents
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Introduction
1.3 Meaning of Religion
1.4 Nature of Religion
1.5 Developmental Stages of Religion
1.6 Let Us Sum Up
1.7 Key Words
1.8 Further Readings and References
1.9 Answers to Check Your Progress

1.1 OBJECTIVES
In this paper we try to understand the very meaning of religion leaving the
discussions on definitions and the theories of the origin of religion since those
are the topics of the subsequent units. However, meaning and nature cannot be
dealt-with without touching both those topics as well. So, we will refer to them
without going into the details of them. After going through the etymological
meaning of the word, we will make a search into the different meanings of
religion from the background of various disciplines like phenomenology,
sociology, psychology etc. Thereafter, we will look into the nature and
developing stages of religions.

1.2 INTRODUCTION
What is religion? A very complex question! We know religion and we live religion.
But, how do we explain or define religion? Religion is one of the most sensitive
and vulnerable aspects of human life from the very beginning. Though it looks
simple, it is not a simple reality to be easily defined or explained. There are
many theories proposed regarding the origin of religion as a result of the
development of speculative, intellectual and scientific mind. However, in spite
of the differences in the understanding of this important element, it is confirmed
that it is purely a human activity and it has become an inevitable aspect of human
life. In the West, under the influence of the inherited tradition of Judeo-Christian
tradition, religion was understood more theistically while in the East, it was
mostly a respond to the experience of the natural powers that are beyond human
control and also to the inner urge for an ethical and moral reference.

1.3 MEANING OF RELIGION

Etymologically, the word ‘religion’ is derived from the Latin root religare and it
means ‘to bind fast’. Then ‘religion’ has certainly a strong emphasis on community
aspect. It is something that binds fast the members of it together.
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Nature and Origin of When we start thinking seriously on religion, naturally we fall upon thoughts of
Religion
the definition of religion. There are numberless definitions of religion. The
meaning and definition of religion differs according to the socio-cultural and
psychological background of the person who reflects upon it. Even the political
settings insert its influence on the understanding of the meaning of religion.
Some of the definitions are phenomenological and try to expose the common
elements that we see in the acknowledged world religions. For example, the
human recognition of a superhuman power entitled to obedience and worship.
Some others are interpretative definitions. Under this we may group the
psychological definitions – the feelings, acts and experiences of the individual
men in so far as they consider themselves to stand in relations to what they may
call the divine; sociological definitions– a set of beliefs, practices and institutions
which men have evolved in various societies; naturalistic definitions – a body
of scruples which impede the free exercise of our faculties; and religious
definitions – religion is the recognition that everything in the world is the
manifestation of a power that is beyond human intellect.

None of these definitions, nevertheless, are complete and exhaustive. The word
religion is not an exclusive word rather it is inclusive. It includes manifold
elements and aspects of life like beliefs, feelings, experiences, values, symbols,
worship, rituals, festivals, cult and cultures, myth and mythology.

Studying the primitive religion, the anthropologist Sir E.B. Tylor in his book
Primitive Culture gives a short definition of religion where he understands religion
as “the belief in spiritual beings.” There are many objections raised against such
understanding of religion on the basis of its incompleteness. The critics argue
that ‘besides belief, practice also must be emphasised. Another objection is that
the faith and believes and the practices are not always towards spiritual beings.
Or else, our scope of belief must be extended and widened to include even
‘nothing’. However, there are also positive side in looking at religion from that
perspective. It makes very clear about the religious attitude of the believers and
also the object to which the believers refer to. According to another anthropologist
Sir J.G. Frazer, as presented in his book the Golden Bough, religion is a
‘propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to
direct and control the course of nature and of human life. This shows that powers
referred to in this context are always of superior nature (superior to man). To
cope with this supra-human powers, ancient religion made use of magic, sorcery,
taboos, myth and mythological stories and so on.

1.4 NATURE OF RELIGION

The Primitive Forms of Religions
The religion is often spoken in relation to something sacred. There is no religion
without having such a notion. Now the various aspects/concepts used to express
the general characteristics of this ‘sacred’ in the primitive religion were very
simple. The notions like ‘unseen’, ‘unknown’, ‘infinite’ ‘immanence and
transcendence’ etc. are notions of advanced theology. The ancient notions used
are rather quasi-negative. Scholars trace the following general characteristics of
the ‘sacred’ which may explain the nature of it in the primitive thought.
i) The sacred as the forbidden: Polynesian term taboo in the primitive religion
could be one that comes close and conveys the sense of ‘sacred’ – scer and
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 sanctus. This point to the idea that something is ‘marked off’ as to be shunned. Meaning and Nature of
Religion
Thus enforced a sense of mystic sanction or penalty if avoided. Because of
this aspect of sanction and punishment added, taboo comes to stand for un-
cleanliness and sin on the one hand, and while it can also be interpreted as
means of self protection on the part of the sacred against defying contact on
the other hand.
ii) The sacred as the mysterious: This is another quasi-negative notion regarding
the sacred. What was strange and new was treated in the primitive time as
sacred having non-normal nature. We cannot say it as abnormal rather it
was non-normal nature. It was indeed a mystery, something beyond the
human grasp, human understanding and control.
iii) The sacred as the secret: The sacred was understood having a mystic and
mysterious power and therefore, it was something secret. This sense of secret
was emphasised and projected strongly through the insistence of exoticism,
initiation, exclusion of women etc. from the religious moments of rites and
rituals.
iv) The sacred as potent: Perhaps one of the positive and most fundamental
conception of the sacred is that the efficacy of the sacredness is identified
with the magical and mystical power attributed to it. Everything is understood
as having an indwelling potency, but whatever is sacred manifests this
potency in an extra-ordinary degree.
v) The sacred as the animate: There are lots of evidences to show that the
primitive gods were conceived as personified anthropomorphic characters
dwelling somewhere apart.
vi) The sacred as ancient: another element found in the primitive religion is
the practice of ancestor worship – the organized cult of ancestors marking a
stage of development in the primitive way of thinking. The ancestor worship
is found even in religions that are purely ethical like the Chinese primitive
religions.

Higher Forms of Religion

The higher forms of religions have developed on a pre-existing basis through a
process of selection and development. Certainly it must have been in response to
the demands of modern advanced thinking, need of better expressions, harmony
between past and present experiences; and also to reach a position which shall
satisfy the demands of feeling and reflexion and give confidence for facing the
future challenges. The motive forces that urged for a better presentation of religion
could be:
i) The rapid progress on scientific knowledge and thought;
ii) Changes in the Social order of man;
iii) The enriched forms of ideas and expressions;
iv) The deeper intellectual interest in the subject; and
v) The modern tendencies to avoid superstitions and to substitute it with more
rational and scientific thoughts

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Nature and Origin of The higher forms of religions discuss reality in terms of transcendence, oneness,
Religion
supremacy and absoluteness, and also about the ethical schemes in relation to
social unity and harmony, justice, human destiny, human freedom, etc.

Ethical element is of fundamental importance in determining the quality of a

religion. It is a powerful factor in elevating the object of worship, the religious
relation, and the religious life. Another important aspect that the religion is
concerned is the problem of eschatology. It is related to the ultimate destiny of
man and the world. Eschatological motives may powerfully affect the working
of religion. In the primitive religions, the eschatological ideas gather round the
fate of the dead, and are unleavened by ethical elements while in the higher
religions, it was accelerated by the quickened moral consciousness and the sense
of the value of the individual. The very often accepted world religions are
Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Sikhism.

In history we see that there were different approaches to God and religion. From
the negative perspective, we see the trend of atheism. It is the belief that there is
no God of any kind. Another trend is agnosticism which literally means ‘not-
knowism’. That means, we are not able to affirm or deny the existence of God.
This trend argues that our intellect is incapable of knowing God and making any
kind of judgement on God. Still another stand is scepticism. This approach simply
means doubting. That means, we cannot have certainity about anything, not even
on material things. Then, of course, we cannot speak with surety about
metaphysical and abstract realities. There is still another perspective, that is,
naturalism. According to this theory, every aspect of human existence and
experience including moral and religious life could be properly and adequately
explained in terms of nature.

Coming to the positive approaches to God and religion, deism can refer to the
trend of thought according to which this universe was created and set on motion
by a God and left it alone to operate. The deists teach that natural theology is
enough to explain the religious matters. Finally, perhaps not the last, the common
stand, that is theism. Theism refers to a particular doctrine concerning the nature
of a God and his relationship to the universe. It conceives of a God as personal
and active in the governance and organization of the world and the universe.
Check Your Progress I
Note: a) Use the space provided for your answer
b) Check your answers with those provided at the end of the unit
1) What is the meaning of religion?
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 Meaning and Nature of
2) What are the various ways of defining religion? Religion
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1.5 DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF RELIGION

As we discuss on religion and its stages of development, certainly it is necessary
to look at the beginnings of the thought. As it is mentioned already, transition to
higher forms of religion was inevitable in the rapidly changing social situations.
There was urgency for man to reconsider current and inherited beliefs and practices
to gain some harmony between past and the present experiences. As a result we
see the developments from the very basic worship patterns of the primitive man
to that of the present age. The developmental stages of the evolution of religion
could be enumerated as Totemism, Animism, Pantheism, Polytheism,
Monotheism, Monism.

The terms of totemism and animism are used to explain the set of religious
beliefs of the lower caste. The essential feature of totemism is the belief in a
supernatural connection between a group of people and a group of objects like
certain animal species, sometimes plants, or more rarely other objects. Usually
there is a taboo on killing or eating an animal totem. In totemism we find that
plant species may be totems just as animal species or rocks are. Animism denotes
the collection of beliefs possessed by the Dravidian tribes who have not even
nominally been admitted to the caste system. The general nature of animism
may perhaps be explained as the belief that everything which has life or motion
has also a soul or spirit, and all natural phenomena are caused by direct personal
agency.

The theistic tradition recognizes and accepts the existence of God, more
specifically a personal God. Therefore, theism is often understood as synonym
for monotheism. It is a belief in a personal god. Pantheism is ‘God-is-all-ism’.
According to this view all is God and God is all. God is identical with the world
and nature. In other words, God and universe are one. God is not a reality separate
from the world and remote from it. The particular individual objects have no
absolute existence of their own, rather they are either the different modes of the
universal substance or parts of the divine whole. Polytheism, according to the
German Sociologist Max Müller, was the form of worship of God during the
ancient times. Polytheism is the stage of development in the religious thought
when the belief in and worship of many individual Gods existed. Indeed, it was
the result of the anthropomorphic personification of the natural powers that was
beyond the control of human. In other words, such natural powers were personified
and attributed to them of the human powers and qualities but with maximum
nature. The socio-political and cultural conditions and circumstances affected
the forms assumed by the beliefs and worships of these many Gods. Monotheism
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Nature and Origin of is the beginning of believing in one Supreme God even in the polytheistic
Religion
situation. In the monotheistic tradition we see that there is a demand to abandon
many older beliefs, hopes, fears and customs relating to many gods. Even though
they have the concept of many gods, they believe in one Supreme God and other
gods are only subordinate. Or they believed, as Max Müller observes, that the
multiple gods are only the manifestations of the one supreme. Monism is the
belief in one reality. The word was coined by Christian Wolf in the west though
it was existed from the ancient times.

1.6 LET US SUM UP

Religion being an undeniable aspect of human life, any study on human life will
remain half done if this particular aspect is not taken into consideration. Religion
is being studied from different perspectives and it could be investigated from
Sociological, Anthropological, Phenomenological, Philosophical, Ethical and
Aesthetical perspectives. Today there is an added scope, that is, the field of
comparative religion. It is an urgent need and demand of the present world
community to promote mutual, mature and unprejudiced understanding of others
and their religiousness.

We are living in a postmodern world. And our world is becoming a global village
in every aspect. So, none can live in an isolated world of one’s own. This
postmodern existential predicament in a way compels every person to learn more
about oneself and also about others. It will certainly enhance one’s life and it
will certainly facilitate the peaceful co-existence of human as a whole, promote
mature and unprejudiced relations, and without doubt, it will help everyone
develop an integral vision of life and to work for the welfare of the whole world.
Check Your Progress II
Note: a) Use the space provided for your answer
b) Check your answers with those provided at the end of the unit
1) Which are the developmental stages of the evolution of religion?
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2) Why is the study of religion, especially the comparative study of religion
relevant and urgently needed today?
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 Meaning and Nature of
1.7 KEY WORDS Religion

Atheism : it is the belief that there is no God of any kind.

Agnosticism : it means ‘not-knowism’ which implies that we
are not able to affirm or deny the existence of
God.
Scepticism : it means doubting. That means, we cannot have
certainity about anything, either of material or
of spiritual things.
Naturalism : it means every aspect of human existence and
experience including moral and religious life
could be properly and adequately explained in
terms of nature.
Deism : it means this universe was created and set on
motion by a God and left it alone to operate.
Totemism : it is the belief in a supernatural connection
between a group of people and a group of
objects like certain animal species, sometimes
plants, or more rarely other objects.
Animism : it the belief that everything which has life or
motion has also a soul or spirit, and all natural
phenomena are caused by direct personal
agency.
Pantheism : it is ‘God-is-all-ism’, which all is God and God
is all and God is not a reality separate from the
world and remote from it.
Polytheism : it is the belief in and worship of many individual
Gods.
Monotheism : it is belief in one Supreme God and considers
other gods as subordinate.
Monism : it is the belief in the existence of only one reality.

1.8 FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES

Charlesworth, Max. Philosophy and Religion: from Plato to Postmodernism.
England: One World Pub., 2006.

Hastings, James. Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Vols. 12. New York: T 7
T Clark, 1980.

Hick, John H. Philosophy of Religion. 4th Edition. Delhi: Pearson Education

Pte. Ltd., 1990.

Nayak, G.C. Understanding Religious Phenomenon. Bangalore: Dharmaram Pub.,

1997.

Schleiermacher, Friederich. On Religion. London: Harper Tochbook, 1958.

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Nature and Origin of Smith, Huston. The Religions of Man. New York: Harper and Row Pub., 1958.
Religion
Smith, Wilfred Cantwell. The Meaning and End of Religions: a Revolutionary
Approach to the Great Religious Traditions. London: SPCK, 1978.

Thiselton, Anthony C. A Concise Encyclopaedia of the Philosophy of Religion.

Oxford: One World Pub., 2006.

1.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Answers to Check Your Progress I
1) The word ‘religion’ is derived from the Latin root religare and it means ‘to
bind fast’. Then ‘religion’ has certainly a strong emphasis on community
aspect. It is something that binds fast the members of it together. What we
call religion is very complex and inclusive. It includes manifold elements
and aspects of life like beliefs, feelings, experiences, values, symbols,
worship, rituals, festivals, cult and cultures, myth and mythology.
2) The different ways of defining religion are phenomenological, psychological,
sociological, naturalistic, and religious.

Answers to Check Your Progress II

1) The developmental stages of the evolution of religion are - Totemism,
Animism, Pantheism, Polytheism, Monotheism, Monism.
2) The postmodern world in which we live is becoming a global village in
every aspect. At the same time we encounter elements of social unrest and
atrocities on the basis of religion in every part of the world. It is due to the
fanatic thoughts that creep into the mind of people due to sheer ignorance
about the true teachings of both one’s own religion and of other religions.
This compels every person to learn more about oneself and also about others.
And the study of religions both of one’s own and of others will certainly
enhance one’s life and it will certainly facilitate the peaceful co-existence
of human as a whole, promote mature and unprejudiced relations, and without
doubt, it will help everyone develop an integral vision of life and to work
for the welfare of the whole world. Hence it is relevant and much needed in
the modern world.

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